[antipesto93]

I finally got an ssd, i feel abit behind, but i finally got an ocz vertex 60gb,
now i take it the best use would be to use it as a boot drive, but i have a few questions


If i want to use it as a boot drive, i install windows 7 on it, then how do i move the 'users' and 'program files' directory over to my WD black sata drive - so the ssd is only used for windows files?

if i do use it as a boot drive, and the ssd fails, what can i do? do i just install windows 7 on a spare sata HDD and then i can access my files? - if this happens will i loose all my applications, even if the program files folder is not on the ssd? ( i think because the registry would be on the ssd?)

Are there any guides out there, on how to optimise an ssd for windows 7? like trim and everything?

and finally ( sorry about all this) it is currently on 1.4 firmware...how do i go about upgrading to 1.5?

as you can see i am abit of a noob when it comes to ssd - help please! - or if anyone knows of a good guide?

THANKS!!!!!

[EarthDog]

You can take a look around as it has been covered quite a bit... Let me see if I can help...

1. I wouldnt worry about the users folder personally. In regards to the Program Files though, leave it as is, but just when installing new software, point it to your HDD.

2. PLENTY of guides out there my man... here is but ONE.

3. Also plenty of guides for FW flashing as well...here is a comprehensive list of things you will need.

[I.M.O.G.]

Holy crap, OCZ forums has gone to hell since I last looked... Their announcements and sticky's are out of control. Someone needs to tell them sticky does no good if you sticky 20 different things - forum staff is supposed to help pick out the important things and organize them reasonably! It's barely readable, and painful to try to look through.

For the OP...

I'd keep the program files on the SSD for anything important to you, your application launches will be much faster from the SSD.

This is the firmware you will want to flash, and this explains exactly how to do it:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...-Vertex-drives

Once you flash that firmware, you'll have TRIM enabled on the SSD, and Windows7 will automatically be feeding the drive TRIM commands so you'll get the benefit... All you have to do is flash since you are on Windows 7. For TRIM to work, the drive firmware must support it, as well as the OS.

In the event of a dead OS drive, you are correct about what you said. Your Applications would be broken, due to the Registry being on the OS drive. However, depending on the application and where it saves settings information, you may retain customized settings if they were stored in the program files directory. Personally, that's a dumb way to save settings information, but a lot of windows applications bury configuration information in the program files folder.

There are a lot of guides for tweaking and everything else you can do, however once you get FW1.5 on the drive, you won't get much gain from making any other tweaks for daily usage. You really don't have to do much to get great speeds from these drives.

[antipesto93]

wow thanks for the fast replies, quick question, does norton ghost work with and ssd boot drive? and if i did use a clone software such as norton ghost, to clone the ssd
and then when the ssd fails
i just write the copy to the new ssd, and then will applications work..and not be 'broken'

ah ah i tried the ocz forums, looked far to complicated to ask the question there, looked all over the place.. so i cam back here

[I.M.O.G.]

Glad you came back here - the OCZ forum is really a great resource for SSDs, they have a lot of really in-depth information... its just organized terribly. I've dug through previously when I bought my 60GB vertex, so it helped to know what I was looking for kind of already.

Ghost will work with the SSD, and everything should still work fine if you do a restore... You could encounter slight hiccups depending on whats changed between the time you took the ghost backup and when you restore it.

[JDawggS316]

With SSD's being around for a little while now would it be a good time to trust any one in particular with being a primary OS drive?

And do they interact well with Windows 7?

[antipesto93]

Originally Posted by JDawggS316

With SSD's being around for a little while now would it be a good time to trust any one in particular with being a primary OS drive?

And do they interact well with Windows 7?

after doing some research, they pair perfectly with windows 7 and windows 7 treats them 'nicely' i did quite abit of research when choosing and ssd and from reading reviews etc...i would trust one, i have yet to see a ssd failure story due to just 'using it'

[EarthDog]

Originally Posted by JDawggS316

With SSD's being around for a little while now would it be a good time to trust any one in particular with being a primary OS drive?

And do they interact well with Windows 7?

Im not certain, but I do not believe the failure rate is much if any higher than a mechanical drive. Only time will tell as this is a new technology and hasnt been around for the masses for more than a couple of years.

That said, I have mine running on it for the past 5 months and its great! Better than my raptorx!

[antipesto93]

Oh and one more quick question!
I don't have proof of purchase on this drive, just the drive and box,
if i try upgrading to 1.5, and it gets 'bricked' will they still replace the drive? even though i had no proof of purchase (purchased it on ocf)
thanks

[TheGame240]

Originally Posted by antipesto93

Oh and one more quick question!
I don't have proof of purchase on this drive, just the drive and box,
if i try upgrading to 1.5, and it gets 'bricked' will they still replace the drive? even though i had no proof of purchase (purchased it on ocf)
thanks

Hard to say for sure. I would check with the original seller and see if they would have a problem helping you out with it first. 1.4 already has TRIM support while 1.5 combines Garbage Collection and TRIM so it's not a must have.

I had a bit of a scare flashing my 120GB Agility. It was one of the special case drives where I had to use the Windows flash file. I had to flash it twice. After the first flash it started showing up as a 128GB Indilinx Barefoot drive. Flashed it a second time and it was ok after that.

[mattspalace]

What firmware does it have now? It might already have TRIM FW..

[antipesto93]

Originally Posted by TheGame240

Hard to say for sure. I would check with the original seller and see if they would have a problem helping you out with it first. 1.4 already has TRIM support while 1.5 combines Garbage Collection and TRIM so it's not a must have.

original owner says he isnt the original owner..that help...so now i cant really track down the original owner...i think i will contact ocz support

what is garbage collection? is that the only difference in 1.5 compared to 1.4?

[mattspalace]

Garbage collection isn't necessary anymore as it was only for RAID, and the new Intel drivers support TRIM for SSDs in RAID.

You should be able to check the drive's FW before flashing though.

[antipesto93]

its currently on 1.4

[mattspalace]

You're good to go then!

Make sure the SSD is set to never go to sleep. TRIM will work just fine then.

My netbook has an SSD and its performance is the same now as it was when I installed it a couple of months ago.